A/N: Story details at the end of the chapter. Enjoy.

Sigma Dagger

Prologue

In the beginning, dragons and humans lived in a coexistence with each other, but it was a tense peace. Each species kept to themselves, both avoiding true contact with each other, besides politic encounters between the human kings and the first Alpha leader Prime of the dragons. Most dragons thought of humans as a weak and inferior species, often raiding farms and towns for food and fun. The humans thought dragons were as cold blooded monsters and feared their shape shifting abilities to hide among them, so they formed an army of Guardian Knights to protect them from the raids. However, with the authority of the Prime Dragon and the assurance of the Knights both sides thrived for vorns, somewhat begrudged, without a war coming between them.

Then, as quickly as a lightning strike, a force of horrific power fell upon them. The evil deity let loose hordes of ravenous monsters to attack both sides. The dragons, with all their power, had found themselves overwhelmed and suffered many losses, especially when the monsters attacked their young. The humans, while weak and fragile compared to a dragon's skinned armor, their great number had fought back with impressive ferocity and ingenuity that kept the monsters at bay, but not without a greater loss of lives on their side. Yet, even fighting a common enemy most of the never fought beside each other until one day, the Prime Dragon at that time and a young lowly knight had found themselves facing the evil entity on their own.

The battle had been great, the Prime took advantage of his greater power and flight to attack and try to subdue the being while the knight distracted it and skillfully dodged it's attacks to find a weak spot. The Prime was surprised by the determination and courage of this young human, assisting him by warning of a coming strike and he in turn was warned of sneak attacks by the deity's monsters. The battle's turning point was when the evil force knocked the human away into the air. The Prime reacted without hesitation and caught the knight on his bareback in mid-air, which was when they both felt a new power surging through them. The knight witnessed his weapon glowing with the magic of their combined might. In a final charge, together they attacked the enemy's most valuable spot, found by the human, and purged it into the dark void of another dimension.

Victory at long last was in sight and both sides attacked the fleeing monsters into the depths of the underground and sealed them away. Yet, upon reaching the final battleground, they found the grieving Prime Dragon curled around the dying body of the knight, his armor had fallen away revealing himself to be not but a young man barely out of his adolescent years. The enemy's blow had hit its mark on his fragile frame, but he smiled at the mighty dragon leader and spoke softly with him as the dragon gave the fallen bloody weapon, a dagger, back into the boy's hands. The only recorded conversation between them was the human asking, "Great Prime, are you well? Are our people safe now?" The reply was, "Yes, they are safe and you have fought valiantly young knight." The boy only smiled and they spoke once more (unfortunately it was not recorded) then closed his eyes to sleep but he never awoke again.

Only rumors remain that the Prime had wept throughout those final breaths, dragons were never seen to shed tears, yet the truth of it is uncertain.

Though both sides had lost a tragic many, this one death humbled them all and every being that day bowed in sorrowful respect as the Prime's grievous roar echoed far and wide. Peace between the two sentient races prospered after the Great War, and trade began with little need of fear for each other. Yet, only rumors say that it will not last.

I had once wished that it would have remained only rumors.

Mule Sense

A dawn chorus of song birds filled above the brightening dirt road. Chilled fog gathered on the ground making the traveler tighten his cloak about him. The youth was dark haired and lean in muscle, his grayish blue eyes took in the road ahead and glanced at the surrounding sparse trees of aspen and broken pine. He and his steed rode onto the beaten road toward home with a wooden trailer of metal scraps covered with a tarp. The brown, white patched mule snorted her compliant on the trailers weight.

"Tired already, Sue?" Her driver patted her neck and affectionately rubbed it. "You've pulled heavier loads at greater distances than this."

Sue just repeated her complaining snort. Her rider chuckled.

"We're almost home anyway, and if you go on with no more complaints, I'll have mom prepare an extra bag of carrot oats for you."

As if she could understand his bribe she pulled a little faster. The youth just shook his head and they continued on the road in silence, but no more than ten minutes pass when Sue suddenly stopped with a jerk, her head and ears perked up and they pivoted every which way. The dark haired youth, who always relied on his steed's instincts, immediately became alert, glancing around and rubbed her neck again.

"What do you hear, girl?"

A blood curdling screech was his answer.

"RRAAWWRRGH!"

The frightened mule reared up slightly and tried to bolt but the heavy cart kept her there as her rider tried to calm her as she whinnied.

"Whoa Girl! Whoa!"

Demounting from his saddle the youth held the reigns to try to calm and reassure the mule. The screeching however came again but this time it sounded at a distance. He looked behind his shoulder to a rocky hill incline at the source of the noise; it leads to a local known canyon that was beyond its ridge. The sound was like a great kerfuffle of large fighting cats, but with roaring and scrapping sound of clashing swords.

Sue jerked her head, hoping to have her master hop onto her saddle and ride away from the danger she felt was over that ridge. Unfortunately, her master was a young and curious human, a very dangerous creature.

Pulling Sue to tie her reigns to a tree, the youth readied his bow and quiver of arrows and walked slowly toward the incline. The mule snort her frightened chide at the teen to leave with her. However, he continued softly up the incline, making sure his bow didn't clatter against the rocks.

The growling sounds become more intense as he got close, the fight must be near its peak for the screech war cries also was mingled with cries of pain.

Now he was raised right by his mother and she had but drilled it into his brain to not get involved where he could get hurt; He could just imagine her chastising tone on him about what he was doing.

"Jack Darby, you idiot! What are you thinking?! Your mule is smarter than you! You'll get killed!"

Another cry compelled his curiosity and he continued up the slope to the ridge and peeked over.

Nothing in all his life prepared him for the sight in the canyon below.

"Dragons." His mouth was dry when he gasped.

Three large figures circled each other, their growls echoed on the canyon walls. Two of them were exactly the same with large dark scaly bodies, both their pale triangular heads swiveled around as their wing claws slashed at the third body. Jack took into detail of the dark black and violet scales that colored their bodies and wings; he shivered at the sight of their slanted red eyes. His heart froze more at the sight of a particular colored scale pattern on the barrel chested creatures, a pointed crested purple face that stared out with malicious intent.

Great, Deceptidraqs. He had to get out of there.

However, before he retreated another screech directed his attention to the third dragon.

This one was much smaller than the others and clearly it was fighting a two against one battle, with wounds of a blue fluid flowing from them. Slender dark cobalt bodied and long neck head a soft and narrow serpent-like head with a headdress of sleek cobalt horns and pink crests along the sides of its face and one curved up from its forehead. The same pink accents were around cobalt and black legs and dorsal spikes along the hips to the lashing tail. Silver claws, bright blue fierce eyes, and gnashing teeth fought back against the two other dragons, sparks of blue fire aimed at their faces from its mouth. The wings were small, forming from the shoulders of the dragon, but looked more like a combination of batwings with bird of prey feathers. Jack's eyes widened when he caught another scale pattern on one wing; this one had been memorized since he was a little boy.

A red crested dragon face that stared out in a bold and strong gaze.

"An Autogon!" he gasped out again, but in awe.

His shock was interrupted when one of the dark dragons barbed tail strikes the Autogon's head and they pounced on it. It struggled under their weight, but it still screeched and bit and clawed their hides, but the strikes and teeth tearing into the blue hide brought out a pained cry that wrenched at Jack's heart.

Then piercing blue met with the gray-blue.

The Autogon had paused for a moment a look of shock matching his but another attack to the neck brought another pained screech.

His mind told him to leave now but his body and heart forced him to his spot. Every lesson he ever learned about dragons told him that he shouldn't get involved and must let things be. But when he heard the Autogon screech in pain again his fight response kicked in and he looked around quickly.

He knew he stood no chance at fighting Draqs but maybe…

His eyes caught sight of the other side of the canyon and the boulder pile atop a ridge, right over the fighting dragons.

He hurriedly set up his bow and drew one of his special arrows out and looked over the rune covered arrow head for a moment.

'Now's a good time to test Raf's arrows than ever.'

Hooking the notch and pulled back the string and took aim.

For a moment he aimed at the dragons, the blue eyes looked back up at him in pained shock, then after inhaling a deep breath, he aimed up toward a weak spot in the boulder pile.

He softly exhaled and let loose the string.

She knew she should've been more cautious, been more aware of her surroundings, but her mind had been clouded.

The loss of a pack mate will do that, and in her mind it happened too often.

Had her mind not been so clouded she would've smelled the Draqs coming sooner.

She only had time to drop her cargo into the forest below before the Wyvercons were on her. With grace and speed she led her enemies away from the drop point and into the canyon, but they were still bigger and a cheap shot at her head gave them the advantage.

Now she writhed in pain as they attacked her neck and body, she was able to inflict damage to them but it didn't deter them. She could feel her pack bond with the others and feel that they were on their way but she didn't believe that they would make it on time.

She still looked up in hope for a sign of them, and froze.

What was a human doing here?!

Her neck was attacked again and her cries to her pack became louder and with more urgency. But they were still too far away and now with a human in danger…

She looked back up again but was shocked to see the human aim an arrow in her direction, but then aimed up over them and fired.

A moment later the side of the cliff above them exploded and the Draqs stopped their assault to look up at the falling boulders.

She saw her chance and used her claws to strike at the Draqs and dodge the chaos of the avalanche.

Cries and screeches were over powered by the falling boulders until they stopped suddenly and the valley became silent with only the plinking sounds of trailing pebbles. She wheezed and coughed at the debris cloud surrounding her and turned back at the spot for any movement, but as the cloud faded all that remained was a great pile of boulders and maybe a quarter of the cliff face, the only thing left of the Draqs were limp tails and claws jetting out of the rubble.

She limped to the rubble to check for any signs of life, she sniffed all around; tensing her body for any attack, but nothing came. That was two less Wyvercons to deal with, and this was from one puny human arrow?

Thinking of it…

Her crested head turned to the canyon ridge, but the human was gone.

"Yeah, yeah I know you were right, I should've listened to you," Jack assured his chiding mule after he untied her and quickly led her away back down the road and Sue had no qualms for it.

Moments ago he fired his arrow and watched long enough to see the boulders fall on the Deceptidraqs; thankfully the Autogon had dodged in time. Then he made a silent and quick retreat, but the adrenaline in his blood had him scramble to get away so that he wouldn't get further involved. His hands were still shaking as he held the reigns. When he was sure they were far enough away he stopped and curled to a crouch and shuttered a breath listening to calls of birds and wind in the forest.

What did he just do?

He couldn't get that fact out that not only did he see dragons and believed he saved one, but he killed two to do so; they were Deceptidraqs, the evil raiders of other villages, but those were his first… kills.

He heard about how knights are trained to learn to just pass through the feeling of taking another life for the preservation of your own, but he wasn't a knight, he was… and he just… He shuddered again.

A soft nose nuzzled his face and brought him out of his thoughts. He smiled gratefully at his hoofed friend and patted her nose as she lipped gently around his fingers. "Thanks Sue."

Sue nickered again as Jack got back up and made to get back in her saddle when the morning sun was suddenly flashed off of something at the corner of his eye. He looked over to a thick bush, but under it was something that shouldn't be there.

Leading Sue over, he reached down a pulled out a wrapped bundle of burlap with a metal point sticking out of it. It looked worn and was singed in some places. He felt something hard and long in the bundle and then unwrapped it.

He stared in awe at the contents that revealed itself.

It was a dagger in a scabbard casing, the handle was simple enough, leather grip that criss-crossed, the cross guards looked pristine from the reflecting sunlight off the steel, and the pommel had a sapphire stone embedded through it. The scabbard had mother of pearl inlay, but before he could take out the blade dark shadows appeared from over head and he looked up to see two flying forms going back the way he came. He rewrapped the dagger and put it in his saddle bag then mounted back on Sue and, without any fuss about the cart, the mule hurried off toward home.

At last.

She smelled the ridge of the canyon, where she saw the human.

Definitely male, not one of the Guardian Knights, yet from the same nearby village. She thought as she limped around the area, her right front leg hurting her and her neck was throbbing. Why would he put himself at risk to help me, a dragon? I had thought…How odd.

A trilling cry echoed in her ears and she turned to the arrivals, but she had little to worry about.

"About time boys."

The first dragon was slightly larger than her and on his barreled yellow scaled chest bared the same red mark of the Autogons. His head was more domed with a broad crest along from the forehead down the back of the thick and long black neck and small horns on both sides. The face was gray, aside from the yellow and black accents on the muzzle, jaw and sides of the head. His wings however were much smaller and more bat-like, but his legs looked made for sprinting at great distances.

The second dragon landed next with a loud thud and the ground beneath them vibrated a bit. He was double both their sizes with a great wingspan. His broad head was also domed but with bony thick plates on his head down his broad neck. The face was gray with green accents along the sides and into an impressive chin. His green body was a more heavyweight form, but the massive club on the end of his tail showed the power behind it.

Both took in the valley chaos then back to the female.

"Arcee!" called the green Autogon then looked around. "Whoa! What party happened here?"

The blue female laid on the ground to lick her leg wound as she replied, "Wyvercons. They ambushed me, had me outnumbered."

"Arrwoo?" trilled the worried yellow dragon. (*)

"I'm fine, I…I had some outside assistance," she hesitated and looked to the rubble. "Some human saw the fight and caused that landslide with some magic infused arrow."

Blue eyes widened at her.

"Wait, a human saw you?! Oh, Ratchet's gonna bring the inferno down on you."

"Before or after I tell him I also lost the artifact."

"Grrrr-?!"

"No the Draqs don't have it. I dropped it into the forest before I was knocked from the sky."

"So where is it now?" the green dragon helped her when she struggled to get up.

For a moment Arcee didn't answer her pack mates, then jerked her head up to a sound on a far tree branch and saw a lone raven. Its red eyes looked at the scene below its perch then squawked before taking off when a fireball was fired at it.

The yellow dragon looked on as his target left into the sky with a fierce scowl while the green giant growled with him.

Arcee looked from the retreating bird then to her pack mates. "Good work, Bee. No need for eavesdroppers. As for where the artifact is now, Bulkhead," she looked back to the tree line and the far off small pillars of smoke of the town.

"I think I may have an idea on where it could've gone."

"Jackson Darby, you idiot! What were you thinking, going up close to a dragon fight?!" the dark haired, fair skinned woman prepared their dinner. She stoked the fire with hard jabs of the iron. "You could've gotten killed! Your mule has more common sense than you!"

Do I know my mother, regarded Jack as he prepared the wooden table. "I'm sorry, mom. I don't know what I was thinking, I just…" he sighed as he faced her scolding gaze. "I couldn't just do nothing."

"How about running away and being safe for one?" she said as she used her apron to remove the steaming cook pot from the fire. "If those Deceptidraqs had seen you-"

"They weren't all Draqs mom…," he hesitated before answering. "Two Draqs were attacking an Autogon."

Shocked gray-blue eyes looked to him, then she slowly places the pot on the table before facing her son with a disbelieved frown. "…An-an Autogon? Are you sure?"

"I saw the mark Mom," he said with a firm voice, then walked to the stone oven and pointed to a battered shield that bore the same red face and patted it as he turned to her. "This very mark on the dragon's wing. It was unmistakable."

His mother walked to face the shield up close and breathed deeply. "I thought they became extinct." She looked to him in hope. "If you saw one then there is hope. Oh, Jack if they have returned…"

"Don't know about that. It may have been the last of its kind."

"It takes one to assure me," she then shook her head, released a breath and looked back at her son. "Still, you young man, are on punishment duties, but for saving a sacred being you shall have cake."

"Yes ma'am, oh um let me double check on the stock first," Jack got a lighted candlestick, left through the door into the adjacent forge room. He rechecked that his fire was down and the tools locked away, he then pulled back the shops entrance flap to the outside stable and corral after picking up a burlap bag. Sue greeted him with a snort.

"Hey girl," Jack greeted back then poured the bags contents in her feed trough. "Here's your triple extra treat." Sue nickered at him and began feeding.

Jack walked back to the shop and went to the storage shed and looked to the steel, copper, and iron rods and sheets. He paused to look around then went under the copper to bring out the burlap wrap, placed the candlestick on a shelf, and unwrapped the bundle to look at the dagger.

The length was as long from his fingertips to his elbow but even inside the scabbard, it was light. He griped the leather handle and withdrew the blade out; he had to gasp at the pristine sheen from the candle light. It was a standard broad blade made of a metal that his expert eyes could not distinct. Engraved on the base of the blade bore symbols of a language he had no knowledge of. Turning it over, he carefully felt the double edged blade.

"Such craftsmanship. Not a mark, dent, or jagged edge. Perfectly smooth. Whoever had you last really took care of you. Such a loss, but now what to do with you?"

"Jack!" cried his mother from the shop entrance. "Come in before dinner gets cold!"

"Coming Mom," Jack called but he then hissed when he jerked to answer her and the blade resting on his finger sliced a near deep cut on the index finger pad. He moved the blade away and scowled at the bleeding finger. "Great."

He put the dagger down to wipe the blood off, the blade edge had some residual blood but unseen by the youth it was absorbed into the metal. As Jack brought it back up to wipe it but he paused at the clean surface. He turned it over by the handle in surprise.

"Well, at least I got the messy part of the deal."

He put the scabbard back on, wrapped it in the burlap, hid it under the metal shelf, grabbed the candle stick with his uninjured hand, and rushed back into the home, not surprised his mother started chiding him about his new wound.

Even within the burlap a faint glow from the dagger illuminated from its hiding place.

A sharp cry of the raven echoed above a moon lighted lush happy valley that suddenly became desolate with rock and dead trees as it flew closer to the far mountain before it. However this was no ordinary mountain, in the dark of the night its silhouette formed under a blank moon as it floated high above the mountain range, the glowing core of its powered flight could have been seen for miles.

There was never a human, animal, or plant that's never heard of Nemesis Darkmount, the flying base of the Deceptidraqs.

The raven ignored the other Wyvercons as they flew to the base of the mountain, each carrying baying livestock, materials, and occasionally a pleading human that was unfortunate enough to be caught too close to their mountain, or a punishing tribute of a village, to be made a slave in one of their many jewel mines. The Draqs would take their prizes to the honeycombed entrances to the base of the mountain but the raven had another destination. It cawed as it flew high toward the top, and flew through the entrance there, past the criss-crossing maze of stalactites and stalagmites and cawed again to announce its presence into a large cavern, a giant violet glowing crystal at the center. A sinewy appendage appeared from the dark walls to the black bird. The raven clicked and squawked to the silent shadowed form of its dragon master.

"…"

A red eyed slender dragon shape appeared from behind the crystal and swaggered toward them.

"Well Soundwave, what does your scout have to report on the artifact and the patrol I sent to fetch it?" the velvety graveled voice questioned.

"…"

"WHAT?!" came the high pitched outraged command. "What do you mean 'terminated'?! They were part of my elite! It was just one Autogon!"

"…"

"What is this nonsense about a human arrow?! What of the artifact?! Lost?!"

"…"

"Oh, oh good. Whew," then the voice became lowly sneer as he turned back to the cyrstal. "So, a sniveling human not only aided our enemy but may also have our prize? Well… Our lord did order us to retrieve it, and the boys have been etchy to have some kind of fun lately."

Smug eyes viewed the numerous pairs of more red eyes circling the cavern and up the higher ridges. Excited growls and snarls echoed the walls and up the open volcano exit.

"…"

"Bah! That hardly matters, Soundwave. He wouldn't even have to worry while he's away and I'm in charge," replied the graveled voice. "We must retrieve the artifact before the Autogons do."

Then sharp white teeth grinned wide and a sinister gleam shone in his red eyes.

"Besides, we need to remind the humans of what true terror is."

His maniacal cackle echoed as he used his wings to take off out of the exit with a flight of his dragons behind.

A/N: Transformers: Prime characters (c) Hasbro

The dragons in the story are more organic but they still feed on Energon. But I changed that they don't have human like modes, because seeing a giant dragon is thrilling enough and they shape shift into animals, since there are no vehicles in a medieval like time-line.

Just a list of terms:
Autogons= Autobots

Deceptidraqs= Decepticons

Wyvercons (Wyverns)= Vehicons

Wyverns, are a type of flying lizards but they aren't really dragons in a way, but they are a real mythical creature and the closest that i can make the Vehicons.

BB and BH dragon descriptions based on concepts by JazztheTiger

There wasn't any Arcee based dragons so I made my own and the Wyvercons.

Sue the Mule, replaces June Darby's Sudan... Get it?

(*) Bee did lose his voice box but he can 'growl-talk', there will be translations in further chapters.

I also made the Autogon symbol, Deceptidraq symbol as on my Deviant Art page.

Hoped you enjoyed it.